Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $181.4286.

Several analysts recently weighed in on HRI shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Herc from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Herc from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Herc from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. KeyCorp set a $200.00 price objective on Herc and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Herc from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 2nd.

Herc Price Performance

HRI stock opened at $143.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $152.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.94, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.28. Herc has a 12-month low of $96.18 and a 12-month high of $211.88.

Herc (NYSE:HRI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.39. Herc had a positive return on equity of 16.32% and a negative net margin of 1.68%.The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.35 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Herc will post 12.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Herc Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Herc’s dividend payout ratio is -111.11%.

Institutional Trading of Herc

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Herc during the 2nd quarter valued at about $242,697,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 24.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,709,718 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $488,533,000 after purchasing an additional 723,239 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Herc by 362.8% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 700,402 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $92,236,000 after purchasing an additional 549,072 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Herc by 233.1% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 420,512 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,057,000 after purchasing an additional 294,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Herc by 3,306.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 292,328 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,106,000 after buying an additional 283,746 shares during the last quarter. 93.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Herc Company Profile

Herc Holdings Inc (NYSE: HRI) operates as a leading equipment rental provider in North America, offering a wide range of machinery and support services to construction, industrial, government and event sectors. The company’s fleet includes aerial work platforms, earthmoving equipment, material handling solutions, power generation units and specialty tools, enabling clients to scale their operations without the capital expense of ownership. In addition to basic machinery rentals, Herc provides value-added services such as equipment maintenance, on-site safety training and project consulting to help customers optimize productivity and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Founded as part of Hertz Global Holdings, the equipment rental business was spun off as an independent public company in early 2016.